May 26, 2006

Acu Clothes - NY College Patents new Sports Line

I swear I can't make this stuff up. NY College of Health Professionals, an Acupuncture college in Syosset, NY has patented and is ready to sell its new brand of clothing called MyChi. The clothing line, meant for athletes, is lined with press balls stitced in at key Acupoints to either enhance energy, or promote relaxation while competing. Our lovely friends at Boing Boing came upon the press release.

May 24, 2006

Kentucky Passes First Acupuncture Law - 44th State

After an eight-year battle in the legislature, and a 30+ year battle for Acupuncturists, Kentucky. Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed KRS 311, the state's first law regulating acupuncture. It's a weird one too. NCCAOM certification is necessary and 1800 hours of study, but a grandfathering clause will help those who got certified a long time ago with fewer hours. Also, there is no licensure, you get to use C.Ac. for Certified Acupuncturist. It doesn't say yay or nay on herbs, but moxa, electro and cupping are all ok. A practitioner also needs to have an emergency transfer plan to a medical facility. Really weird. Yet it looks like they don't need diagnosis or referral so good on them. Yahoo Article Here

May 10, 2006

Acupuncture and Sham both Equally and Statistically Effective for IBS

But you would never get that jist from the first few paragraphs of this article. Like the many that have come before, here's another story talking about how sham and Acupuncture were both effective, but here all they talk about is the placebo effect. Additionally, this being "the largest IBS Acupuncture study" with a sum total of 47 freaking patients proves absolutely NOTHING. The sample size is just way off, and how any study before could say anything other than "Hey, we did Acupuncture on these 6 guys, and left those 6 guys alone. Isn't that great science!" I have no idea.

Sorry for the sarcasm, just gets my goat when Reuters decides to pick up on studies that frankly suck. Reuters Article Here

May 08, 2006

The Fight for Insurance Coverage in PA

A few months ago, we in the Association for Professional Acupuncture in PA were petitioned by a consumer/patient to help her lobby our state house to mandate insurance coverage. For those who don't know, PA is not exactly an Acupuncture friendly state. We're still fighting to get rid of a referral requirement and weren't even allowed to have Acu schools in the state till 3 years ago.

The state of almost every state legislature in the country is that insurance mandates will not be passed. Thus we have to lobby the insurance companies directly. We've even managed to get some good press you can read here: Will Blue Cross cover ancient healing methods?